20 - Friday, March 18, 1988 - North Shore News LO in Twe film Off in Saigon du Wear which featuresaqg Hines, left, and Willem Dafoe, right. Off Limits ** (26th Century Fox) Rated R (at the Granville, Fraser, Dolphin, Scott 72, Coquitlam Cinemas) BACK IN the ’30s and ’40s, B-movies were the cheaply made, lower half of double bills. Gradually, the term came to describe any simple-minded action picture and even outright bad movies. “Off Limits’’, while no clinker, does have some other distinct qualities that place it firmly in the B-movie category. Buck McGriff (Platoon’s Willem Dafoe) and partner Albaby Perkins (Gregory Hines of Runn- ing Scared) are plainclothes cops investigating a series of murders involving prostitutes with Amera- sian babies. . In a new twist on a familiar story, the location of the story is Saigon, 1968. McGriff and Perkins are with the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigations Detachment (CID) and evidence indicates a high-rank- ing American officer is the killer. AMANDA PAYS is Sister Nicole in Off Limits. The trouble is the city is full of murderous thugs and the front lines are well stocked with psychotics. As Albaby points out, in Saigon everyone is a suspect. Helping them whittle the pack down is a beautiful Catholic novice, Nicole (Amanda Pays of T.V.'s Max Headroom) and tough-talking Master Sgt. Dix (Fred Ward). However, not everyone is so sympathetic to our heroes. Lime Green (Kay Tong Lim) is an oily Vietnamese police official whose authority seems to be constantly overruled by CID. Indifferent witnesses and hostile natives also prove major hurdles to the in- vestigation. TIM BELL film reviewer McGriff and Perkins both employ suspect methods to obtain information and in the dark world they prowl, they begin to resemble the criminals they pursue. As Dafoe said, ‘‘The only thing that defines a villain and a hero is which way the gun is pointed.’’ In B-movie tradition, characters and plot are kept simple to allow the action as much screen time as possible. Women are literally whores or Madonnas and, usually, victims. The men are depicted as extremely crude and violent. An attempt is made to soften the leads, however. Perkins has a wel- come, if low, sense of humor and McGriff gets laughably moony- eyed whenever he sees Nicole. As if Dafoe’s lame attempt at expressing love wasn't obvious enough, the soundtrack makes the appropriate syrupy musical sigh to indicate his feelings. Predictably, the nun-to-be is beautiful and attracted to McGriff, but the outcome of the love story is as predictable as the killer's identity. The suspense of the mystery is diluted even further by the virtual immortality of the leads. They survive shootings, bombings, riots and whatever other brutality the scriptwriters can hurl at them. One can only assume a sequel was at the back of the filmmaker’s mind. Still, the acting is generally good, the photography nicely cap- tures a moody seaminess and the editing carries the plot along brisk- ly. Action fans will be satisfied by Off Limits, but mystery buffs should heed the film’s title. Short Takes La Bamba ** (RCA/Columbia) Rated PG An okay biography of Richie Valens’ brief stardom in 1957, There is good acting by Lou Dia- mond Philips as Valens and, especially, Esai Morales as Bob, his troubled brother, but preten- tious foreshadowing hurts the movie's credibility. The most interesting character is Bob, the macho walking powderkeg, who throws the focus off of the comparatively dull main star. Another problem is the un- deniable morbidity in waiting a couple of hours for the star to fall. The soundtrack has great cover versions of Valens’ hits by Los Lobos as well as Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochrane classics performed by Marshall Krenshaw amongst others. Buy the albtum — it’s a better deal. Roxanne *** (RCA/Columbia) Rated PG Steve Martin shines as a modern day Cyrano de Bergerac, the athletic wit with the enormous proboscis. He falls for the new ar- rival in town, lovely Roxanne (Darry! Hannah). Unfortunately, she’s in love with a shallow, hand- some oaf (Rick Rossovich) who can't pul two words together. Martin is enlisted to ghostwrite let- ters for him but, naturally, puts his own feelings on paper, succeeding only too well in dazzling Roxanne. Hannah is little more than win- dow dressing, but Martin’s brilliance make this a good rental. His natural warmth and likeability, in addition to the effortless gym- nastics he (or his double) displays create a funny, dashing romantic lead. Beautiful photography makes Nelson, B.C. so charming that the local Chamber of Commerce received hundreds of eager re- quests for housing information from all over North America. 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